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Knox Commencement a long tradition of top names

As Knox College prepares for its 163rd commencement, the honor scroll of speakers seemingly is a â€œWhoâ€™s Whoâ€ of American celebrities. It has been a commendable tradition since the early 1900s to accommodate studentsâ€™ suggestions in the process.

Actors, journalists, economists, activists, authors, comedians, military leaders, congressmen, university presidents, poets and even a U.S. President have passed on words of wisdom to an endless array of Siwash and Prairie Fire graduates. There has been a United States poet laureate, a president of the American Bar Association, a war correspondent, a pharmaceutical executive, president of a railroad ice company, a publisher of the New York Times, the chief executive of Standard Oil and the president of the United Nations General Assembly.